Kat Rodriguez, coordinating organizer with Derechos Humanos, a human rights organization, joined one of the Los Angeles Freedom Ride buses in Tucson, Ariz. Here she shares excerpts from her on-the-road journal with PWW readers.

LOS ANGELES – Hundreds of members of Service Employees International Union Local 434 B gathered at Griffith Park Recreation Center on Sept. 13 to launch a Poor People’s Campaign aimed at eradicating poverty in Los Angeles.

The current high level of immigration into the United States is part of a worldwide phenomenon. Almost every industrial country in the world is registering large numbers of people from poorer countries who are arriving without papers every day.

LOS ANGELES – Imelda Ramos just became a citizen. She will be casting her first vote on Oct. 7. She told this reporter she will be voting against the recall of Gov. Gray Davis and will hedge her bet with a vote for Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, the leading Democrat in the race.